Ed Miliband: Scotland vote ‘No’ ... Tories are on way out

Vote no: Ed Miliband united with a senior Tory today in a bid to persuade Scots to reject independence (Picture: PA)

Ed Miliband united with a senior Tory today in a bid to persuade Scots to reject independence — by suggesting David Cameron may be kicked out of No 10 within eight months.

Seeking to woo Labour voters to the “No” side, Mr Miliband and Ruth Davidson, leader of the Scottish Conservatives, raised the prospect that the Tories may lose the next general election.

“My message is very simple today — a Labour government is on the way,” he told the Good Morning Scotland programme ahead of a visit to Blantyre, South Lanarkshire. “The SNP wants to conduct these last two weeks of this campaign saying the Tories can’t be beaten. That is absolutely the opposite of what is happening.

“You can vote ‘No’ ... and then have a Labour government in eight months’ time, freezing energy prices, putting in place a 50p tax rate, raising the minimum wage.”

As polls suggested a swing behind the “Yes” campaign ahead of the September 18 referendum, Ms Davidson appeared to be floating a similar message — with Labour voters being seen as possibly crucial to the result.

During a TV debate, she said that, according to opinion surveys, “frankly it isn’t looking likely” that the Conservatives would win the election.

With leading bankers warning of a currency crisis if Scotland goes it alone, David Cameron urged Scots to focus on the “risks there are of separating”. He said it would “break his heart” if Scotland split from the rest of the UK.

A former intelligence chief warned that plans for security arrangements in an independent Scotland were “fundamentally flawed”. Sir David Omand, ex-head of GCHQ, said cyber-security would be “much harder” to achieve.

SNP leader Alex Salmond was in Glasgow to set out his vision for independence over the next decade. He said: “More and more people are switching ... to a Yes vote because they’re waking up to the gains of controlling the key decisions that affect life in Scotland.”